Tsuba Whetstones for 2026

Sakai Ichimonji Mitsuhide has renewed and added to it's Tsuba line-up of whetstones, with six new whetstones to see and try!

Learn about why we released these new stones, and what their benefits are in this article. These stones are suitable for both experienced sharpeners and those at a beginner or intermediate level wanting to expand their interest in the deep world of sharpening.

Table of Contents

1. Why Did We Make New Stones?
2. Tsuba GC #220 Coarse Stone Hard Type
3. Tsuba GC #220 Coarse Stone Soft Type
4. Tsuba GC #400 Coarse-Medium Stone
5. Tsuba 19A "Ichiku e" #1000 Medium Stone
6. Tsuba WA #1000 Medium Stone
7. Tsuba GC #3000 Fine Stone
8. Which Whetstones Should You Get?
9. Watch Our YouTube

We already make a lot of whetstones, such as our existant Tsuba series and our well known Kirameki series.

While we love our current production partners, due to increased demand they are no longer able to keep up, so we have found a new partner and decided to revise our stones at the same time, making stones with a similar character but improving on what we have learned over the years.

Our GC #220 Hard Type is a vitrified stone using green carbon as its abrasive.

This stone removes steel at a good rate without leaving scratches that are too deep, making progressing onto the next stone easier.

Because it is a harder stone, it needs flattening less often as well, and also makes low points (called ekubo or エクボ in Japanese) easier to see, which is useful if you plan on removing them.

While this stone is vitrified and as a result designed to be soaked, it will soften if left to soak for too long. Be sure to dry it after use.

Our GC #220 Soft Type is also a vitrified stone using green carbon as its abrasive

This stone is similar to our hard type variant, but as the stone itself is softer, it leaves more shallow scratches on your knife after sharpening, while still having fast sharpening ability.

This stone wears down more evenly at the same time as the knife does, which some sharpeners prefer. This does mean it will not stay as flat as long as the hard type variant, so flattening it more often is necessary. It also creates a more muffled sound compared to sharpening with the hard type, for those who use more auditory cues for sharpening.

The soft type stone will also create a slightly cloudier finish compared to the hard type variant.

Our GC #400 uses green carbon as its abrasive.

This stone is designed to be extremely hard, and stays very flat, while at the same time keeping a good smoothness and leaving shallower scratches. Our own sharpening team has expressed that sometimes they would even use this over a coarser stone.

A special point behind this stone is its abnormally high abrasive ratio, sitting at about 72%. Most combination or inexpensive stones sit closer to a ratio of 60%, making this stone a little less common, but incredibly good at sharpening.

Our 19A #1000 Medium Stone uses two different abrasives at a ratio of ten percent alundum (A), and ninety percent white alundum (WA). Because of this one to nine ratio, we categorised is as 1:9, and in Japanese that would be pronounced as ichi ku hence the name Ichiku E (19A).

The 19A stone here offers excellent balance between cutting power and keeping flat, while retaining a smooth feel and creating a cloudy finish similar to what you might find on Japanese natural whetstones. This stone also tends to hide low points quite well.

The concept of this stone was to create a stone that creates a cloudy finish like our Akamonzen stone, but at the same time stay flat for longer.

Our WA #1000 Medium Stone uses white alundum as its abrasive.

This stone was made incredbily hard for a medium stone, helping hollows to stand out clearly for removal, and is designed for mirror like finishes.

This stone is suitable for clamshell or convex edge sharpening, but we find that it can create an edge that is a little thick and recommend it more for flat edge sharpening instead.

Our GC #3000 Finishing Stone uses green carbon as its abrasive.

This stone is designed to be a hybrid between out current Tsuba WA #3000, and our Kirameki #3000 stones.

We created this stone to give people who have not decided quite whether they want to go with a flat edge or convex edge finish another stone up the chain they can work with before they have to reach that decision, as our current WA #3000 is designed more for flat edge sharpening, and our Kirameki for clamshell or convex edge sharpening.

This will also leave less sharpening scratches and lines compared to our WA #3000.

We've created two seperate pipelines for recommended whetstones, one based on flat edge sharpening, and one based on clamshell edge sharpening. Follow either below to get what is best for you!

The flat edge pipeline creates as crisp edge without hollows, and is slightly more advanced. If you also happen to have the Tsuba WA #3000, that can be an excellent finishing stone to complete the set with.

The clamshell edge or convex edge pipeline is a set that is gentler and more forgiving, so if you are looking for a set to start praciticing or work into your sharpening journey this is a more suitable pick.

This article is also available on our YouTube channel, where you can see our Japanese team members Matsumura-san and Kimura-san sharpen an usuba knife using these whetstones so you can see the differences up close.

You can also leave comments on the video which will be passed to the sharpening team directly for feedback!